The CPI(M) said on Wednesday that the Congress’s biggest worry in the Lok Sabha elections was the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s firm and steadfast battle against the Centre’s decision to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan’s constant “rants” against the State government’s legal and political fight against implementing the “patently anti-Muslim” law stemmed from the fact that minorities and secularists were rallying around the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to prevent the country from backsliding into a fascist polity.
He said the large attendance at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s anti-CAA rallies indicated the bourgeoning support for the secular cause. Mr Satheesan could sense the sand slipping away under the Congress’s feet.
CPI(M)‘s focus
Mr. Govindan said the CPI(M) has not lost sight of the fact that the implementation of the CAA was a precursor to the establishment of a Hindu majoritarian State that seeks to relegate minorities and historically marginalised sections of society as subaltern citizens.
“CAA, NCR, triple talaq, Uniform Civil Code, Abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status are tributaries that feed Sangh Parivar’s surge towards converting India into a Hindu majoritarian polity. The laws seek to other minorities, particularly Muslims.,” he said.
Mr. Govindan said the Congress remained a mute witness to the attacks on the Constitution’s basic structure. Only the LDF could halt the destructive flow that imperils secularism and the Constitution.
He slammed Mr. Satheesan’s comment that Mr. Vijayan’s anti-CAA rallies were polarising electoral stunts to harness Muslim votes for the LDF.
Sangh mindset
He said Mr. Satheesan’s statement echoed a Sangh Parivar mindset. Mr. Govindan said the Congress had always been the ideological echo chamber of the BJP in Kerala.
Mr. Govindan said Congress leader A.K. Antony’s “do or die” call to defeat the Sangh Parivar lacked credibility.
“Mr Antony’s son and political heir, Anil K. Antony, is the BJP’s frontline soldier and poster boy in Kerala. The Assam Chief Minister recently observed that the Congress was the BJP’s permanent investment. Nobody is better placed than him to make the point because he is a defector to the BJP from the Congress. The party is BJP’s permanent account in Kerala, which the Sangh Parivar can redeem at will,” Mr Govindan said.
